Jealousy
by hikari yuuko
Summary: [SasuSaku] Sasuke's jealousy is in the broad daylight, but Sakura is still oblivious. And while she is blissfully ignorant, Sasuke is in denial... and just a bit paranoid. : Threepart fic. Implied ShikaIno and NejiTen :: PART III UP! Complete!
1. Jealousy

**Date:** November 14th, 2006.  
**Pairing:** SasuSaku. Implied ShikaIno.  
**Author's notes:** As the title has given away already, this is nothing but my version of Jealous!Sasuke! Isn't that fun? ((wink wink)). It was going to be part of my SasuSaku collection, but it... sort of grew into a three-part fic. Here's part one. Please read and review! Enjoy!

_Standard disclaimer applies._

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**Jealousy  
**by hikari yuuko

_**PART I: Jealousy**_

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"Sasuke-teme, Sakura-chan, ja neeeeeeeeee!" Naruto shouted as he exited the house. The shouji door from the room he'd just left was still rattling.

Sasuke glared at the sliding door that was now slightly broken. "Hn."

"Guess Naruto is really hopeless," Sakura sighed, settling down her mug of tea and cleaning her mouth with a napkin. She turned to their host and smiled, fingers brushing carelessly through her locks of pink hair. "I think I better leave as well, it's getting a bit late. Thank you for having me, Sasuke-kun."

"Hn." Sasuke merely drank what was left of his own tea and ignored her as she moved past him. He didn't think much of her 'getting late' comment even if it was only quarter past five. Her hand briefly pated his right shoulder before her figure disappeared from the room.

Sakura sat on the front steps to gather her shoes just as she heard the sound of the shouji door closing. Sasuke was suddenly leaning against the wall opposite from her, as she had expected him to. "I'm meeting up with Shikamaru," she mumbled as she fitted in the first sandal, but loud enough for him to catch it.

This made Sasuke, who'd been staring at the door, glance at her with slight curiosity "Nara?"

"Un." She nodded, smiling obliviously at the now alert Sasuke.

"A debriefing of the new missions tactic plan?" he drawled his question in the most uninterested fashion, which was clearly the opposite. If he was uninterested, he wouldn't be asking at all.

"Uh... not really," she shook her head as she fitted the second sandal into her foot and stood up. The female medic-nin turned to him, then, the glint on her green eyes mirroring her bright, small smile. "It doesn't have much to do with missions, actually."

'Then what?' Sasuke seemed to ask with his unwavering obsidian eyes and raised eyebrow. Before she could even reply, though, he straightened up, determination settled on his handsome features. "I'm going with you."

She blinked. "Ehh?"

"I said that I'm going with you," his glare was intense. "Is that a problem or will I disrupt your little date with Nara?" His shoes were on his feet already.

Sakura was startled at first. She blinked once again before explaining, "But it's not a date, either."

"Whatever. Let's get going," he told her and strode right past her. She followed, still slightly in awe, after closing the door and locking it.

Catching up to him took her a relatively few steps before they fell into a same, steady pace and walked side by side. The way over to the Nara residence was one of comfortable silence. Sakura occasionally slipped in bits of conversation and Sasuke answered in monosyllables, which was one of his feats, and they both enjoyed the blossoming trees along the path.

-

"Sasuke-kun!! You came, what a surprise!" Ino chirped happily as her eyes sighted the two coming in through the backyard door. Sasuke groaned and Sakura giggled beside him, expecting such a welcoming. "Forehead-girl, you're late!"

"Hi, Shikamaru," Sakura greeted to the aforementioned young man, who was propping himself up with his elbows. Her attention then turned to the girl sitting beside him and she smirked in taunt, "Ino-pig."

"Hello, Sakura, Uchiha." Shikamaru greeted each of them, a tired tone about his voice. The bored expression on his face disappeared slightly as he noticed the ominous aura surrounding the Sharingan user.

"Nara." Sasuke's lips then settled on a thin, grim line.

"I'll go get us some teas and a few treats. Shikamaru, you like two spoons of honey in yours, right?"

"Yeah… thanks, Ino." Shikamaru allowed himself to give a small grin to his teammate, who then stood up and disappeared on the hallways, before turning to his visitors.

"So, it's unexpected to have you here, Uchiha. To what do I owe your visit today, if I may ask…?" The genius boy wondered as he began arranging the shougi pieces on his board. "You are welcome, though."

The dark-haired one nodded in appreciation, but the gesture rather was forced. He was still feeling a bit suspicious about Shikamaru. "I'm..." Sasuke paused in search for a proper term, "escorting Sakura for a while."

"Ah." The lazy, pony-tailed shinobi nodded back at the brooding boy and turned to the board again. "That's nice."

"Hn."

"Shikamaru is teaching me how to play shougi." Sakura explained as she walked over to him and sat opposite to him. "He's a really good player, but even a greater teacher."

"Hn…" Sasuke didn't really want to comment how he didn't care whether Shikamaru was good or not.

"What can I say, you learn fast." Shikamaru shrugged. "You've got a tactician's mind too."

"Hn…" Neither did he want to say how he didn't like him flattering her too much.

Ino's steps were heard then, indicating her return. She came back once again from the hallway where she had disappeared, this time carrying a small tray with four cups of tea and a plate of cookies which she settled on the floor just in front of the game board.

"Stop praising her, Shika-kun! She'll actually believe it!" the girl seemed to voice out what Sasuke was thinking as she tugged at Shikamaru's sleeve. Ino handed him his cup first, scooting closer to her teammate in attempt to gain his full attention but his eyes were completely on the board now and on his pieces.

This caused Sakura to smirk at her longtime rival and childhood friend. "What, pig, you jealous?"

"I'm not!!" the blonde exclaimed; her blue eyes wide and cheeks stained in a slight pink. "Why would I be jealous of you and Shikamaru?"

The medic-nin grinned wider at her flustered friend, taking in her hands the mug that Ino had brought for her. "Whoever mentioned Shikamaru in this?"

Shikamaru groaned, glancing warily at the two kunoichi. "_Troublesome_."

"Hn." Sasuke agreed as he played with a kunai, twirling it in his finger as he leaned against one of the trees in the backyard.

-

"That was fun. Ino spent less time interrupting our games this once. Maybe you should tag along next time too, Sasuke-kun," she teased.

"Hn." He looked annoyed. For the most part, he'd kept vigil on Sakura and Shikamaru's tense matches. That was, of course, whenever Ino wasn't bothering the hell out of him.

"Well, then, thanks for today," she told him as they reached an intersection on the road. She shifted on her feet, brushed the hairs falling over her face, and smiled at him, "Goodbye, Sasuke-kun. I'll see you tomorrow at training."

"Hn." He watched her leave, frown on his face. He was quite the sharp guy, so he instantly noticed that the route she was taking was slightly different from the usual. "Sakura," he called out, "your house is the other way."

"Hm?" She came to a halt and turned around. She glanced around the place and realized what he was talking about. She marched back to him a bit, so he could hear her better. "Oh, yeah, I still have to stop by at Kiba's."

Sasuke involuntarily raised an eyebrow in confusion. Lately, he realized, he'd been doing that a lot when it involved Sakura. "_What?_"

"Yeah, he said Akamaru isn't feeling well," she explained seriously, concerned frown on her pretty face. "His sister is currently out of town and he doesn't trust just anyone when it comes to Akamaru so he asked me to check up on him."

"Hn."

"But anyway, like I said, thank you for accompanying me today." She told him. She was about to open her mouth again and then stopped altogether when Sasuke brushed by her and walked ahead on the path she had been taking. His house was also the other way. "Er... Sasuke-kun, where are you going?"

Sasuke stopped and looked at her over his shoulder, smirking slightly. "To Inuzuka's house, where else? Move it, Sakura."

Sakura stood there perplexed for a full second before trailing after him. "H-hai..."


	2. The Jealousy Continues

**Date:** December 6th, 2006.  
**Pairing/Characters:** SasuSaku. Implied one-sided LeeSaku. Mentions of Gaara. Sai.  
**Author's notes:** First of all, a belated **Merry Christmas and Happy New Year**! ;D Secondly, thank you muchly for your reviews!!

I noticed that part II and III were in past tense, unlike the first part, so I fixed that by changing tenses on part I (because it's easier to change tenses from present to past and keep the same flow than from past to present... uh, yeah...). Uh, also, if you feel like the ending is a bit off in this chapter that's probably because it's not the real ending. Part II and III were originally the only sequel for _Jealousy_, but I cut them into two chapters because it got insanely longer than the first. So yeah, that's my lame excuse. Now, I'll leave you to read if you will, and of course, you can leave a review before leaving!

See you soon and happy holidays!

_Standard disclaimer applies._

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**Jealousy  
**by hikari yuuko

_**PART II: The Jealousy Continues**_

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The trip to the Inuzukas was somewhat awkward. Sakura had decided that, most definitely, Sasuke was feeling unwell because he was acting too weird. He was being too nice to her and going out of his precious routine just to accompany her. The young man in question, though, paid no heed to the worried glances his female teammate had directed at him throughout the fifteen minutes it took them to arrive at Kiba's home.

They were let inside by Kiba's mother and instructed to wait in the backyard. Kiba was immediately with them, having rushed down the stairs with the now rather large dog in his arms. He looked flushed from the run but glad that the pink-haired medic-nin was there.

Their time there hadn't turned out to be that bad, actually. Sasuke had been more miffed about the glares he'd been given by Akamaru than about the hug that Kiba had enveloped Sakura in as a thank you. Or so he liked to think. That dog looked totally ready to launch at him and eat his head. It was almost as if the formerly cute pup had been jealous of him. For God's sake!! What was there to be jealous about!?

But… yeah, it hadn't been that bad.

Unfortunately for Sasuke, Sakura seemed far more popular with the male population that he would have liked, as much as he was adamant to admit so. First, it had been a few of her colleagues at work shamelessly flirting with her when he happened to stop by to pick her up. Then he'd seen the flowers on her doorway wrapped up in a vicious green paper and not so far away, hidden behind a few trees that lined up in front of her house, was that Gai's student. He had encountered that Lee guy more than once after that. And exchanged a few punches too.

And then, on Gaara's visit to the village, he and Sakura had been assigned to walk the redhead boy around town. That hadn't been pretty. Gaara had as much as looked at Sakura for a longer period of time than Sasuke thought was appropriate and he was ready to claw the guy. He was a jounin preparing to become ANBU and Gaara was the Kazekage, so it brought way more attention when the two teenage male had almost broke into a fight after exchanging a number of snide comments. Sakura had been livid that day and Sasuke had not spoken to her an entire week. Only Naruto and his weekly ramen at Ichiraku had been able to bring them together days later and Sakura had reluctantly talked to him. He'd mumbled a sorry to the hesitant girl after Naruto parted with them and another few days later they were back to the usual friendly treatment.

It had not stopped there, though…

-

He met her two mornings later, after they'd just made up from the recent Gaara incident, sparring with a stranger in Team 7's training grounds. He tried his best to stop the twitch in his eye.

"Oh," she came to a halt, feet dragging against the ground. There was dirt on her face which she cleaned with the back of her hand. "Sasuke-kun, you arrived early."

"You told me to meet you at ten," he scowled at her and the other person as he quickly recognized who the stranger was. "Sai."

"Sasuke-kun," the other one smiled at him after jumping down from the tree he had been standing at. That smile never failed to unnerve the Uchiha heir. "It's been a while."

He frowned and grunted, glancing away. In all honesty, he would have rather extended that 'while' if possible. "Sakura," he began, frown growing darker, "if you weren't going to be ready you shouldn't have called me out this morning. I have other things to do."

"Ah!" she looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun! It's just that Sai just came home from a mission and I met him on my way here. So we just…"

"Whatever," he cut her off, "I'll be going now."

"But…" Sakura stared at him, taken aback by his behavior.

"My, my, Sasuke-kun," Sai called out, a merry glint in his eyes and smile this once sincere, "I didn't think you'd get jealous over a simple sparring session."

Sasuke turned around to glare at him heatedly. "Say that again," he hissed.

"Sai, stop it!" Sakura demanded, stepping in-between both pale-faced boys. She turned to her brooding teammate, equally stern. "Sasuke-kun, you too, please calm down."

"Hn." Calm down, yeah right…

"What? I was just saying… It surprised me, you know," he looked at her, innocent act all over his face. "Sasuke-kun, you should keep Ugly here some company," he pointed his thumb at the not-so-happy cherry-haired girl, "I have to go anyway and meet the Hokage and give her my report."

"Hn," he huffed, still visibly exasperated. He thought Sai was an idiot, and still people dared to compare said idiot with him. That painter-wannabe was leagues away from his level.

"Well then, ja ne, Sasuke-kun," he smiled pleasantly while turning to the female, "Ugly." Sai jumped back onto the tree and shifted on the branch before jumping away.

"SAI!" Sakura yelled, raising her fist in the air as Sai disappeared into the thickness of the forest. Her shoulders slumped down and she sighed, "Ah, that guy is so annoying sometimes."

Sasuke regarded her with careful eyes. "Let's train, Sakura."

Sakura straightened up and looked at him with clear, green eyes. "Huh?"

"That's why you wanted to meet me in the first place, right? To help you practice your new jutsus?"

A vibrant smile slipped into her face. "Un!"

-

"Sasuke-kun, are you feeling alright?" she asked worriedly during one of their breaks. She was leaning against one of the trees and Sasuke was directly in front of her.

Sasuke gulped down his water and closed the bottle's cap as he turned to look at her, brows furrowed together. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"Well, you've been acting… strange lately," she fiddled with her own bottle of water, gaze straying to the green grass below her feet. "…Not like yourself."

"Hn," he grunted. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" she insisted.

He tried to glare at her but failed upon finding her frowning face. She had that look on her face like when she was treating a patient in the hospital, determination to heal present, and something else, that sincere concern over him that sometimes overwhelmed Sasuke.

He sighed this time. "I'm _fine_, Sakura."

"Oh, alright," she looked somewhat convinced. But not entirely so, "But if you ever need something…"

"Hn." He rolled his eyes at her and stood up. "Come on, I'll treat you to ramen if you shut up."

"Sasuke!" she yelled, stomping angrily after the smirking young man.

Sasuke thought the ramen was particularly good that day.


	3. One Last Bit of Jealousy

**Date:** December 7th, 2006.  
**Pairing:** SasuSaku. Implied NejiTen. Even more implied NaruHina.  
**Author's notes:** I'm so sorry! I was supposed to upload this three days ago (when I got back home from my vacations), but I was getting ready for school and stuff. But here it is, the last part to this fic with some Neji-looove, a paranoid Sasuke, and a Sakura like we all know here to be: pure genius. I hope you've enjoyed the story as much as I did when writing it. Thank you very much for your comments. (Do remember to review for this last chapter, though:D) And, lastly, thank you for your time!! Hopefully, I'll be seeing you guys soon.

_**Standard disclaimer applies.**_

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**Jealousy  
**by hikari yuuko

_**PART III: One Last Bit of Jealousy**_

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He knocked on her door once, twice, and still the door was unanswered. A third time and he thought that if he had to do it again he would just leave. He was about to go when the door was opened hastily by a rather flustered Sakura. She'd seemingly rushed down the stairs to get the door.

"Sa…suke? Why are you here?" At his irritated stare she fumbled for words, cheeks pink with embarrassment. "I mean! Welcome! Um…"

"Today is Saturday," he told her plainly with an annoyed scowl on his handsome face, still standing outside her doorstep with his arms crossed over his chest.

Every Saturday evening they'd have tea or coffee at each other's house and talk about their week. It had been part of their routine, much like going to the ramen shop every week with Naruto or him going to pick her up at the hospital when she had night shifts. They hadn't missed one Saturday in almost three years.

"Oh! Yes, I'm so sorry! I forgot to call you. I've been so busy at the hospital that it must have slipped my mind."

It didn't go unnoticed to his sharp, sharp eyes that she was dressed up in one of her finest blouses, the wine red one he secretly liked, a dark skirt, and her pretty shoes that she'd bought on her last trip to the shopping district with Ino three weeks ago. In other words, she was in this fancy get-up she rarely wore, since she was always at the hospital or training. And her satin pink hair had been brushed down and her lips were shining slightly, too.

"Hn," he grunted. "To the point, Sakura?"

"Well, I'm expected at the Hyuuga compound at five." She said, taking a quick look at the alarm clock on the little table in the entrance hall, it said four forty-five in square, red digital numbers. "So I need to go now," she explained. Sakura paused and added as an afterthought, "Actually, would you mind going there with me? And later we could have a cup of coffee at that shop nearby, would that be alright?"

"Hn." Hyuuga, huh… Now she was going to see the bird-boy? Couldn't she like, just have girl friends? He frowned despite himself; it was almost a habit now. "Whatever."

"Perfect!" she cheered. "Now just let me get my purse and we can go, alright?"

And then she went inside her house, leaving the black-haired shinobi all by himself to think. That wasn't necessarily a good thing.

His mind strayed to Sakura's fancy clothes and her visit to the Hyuuga… She was going there to see Neji, right? But why would she dress up for Neji? She never dressed up for him… Not like he wanted to, because he definitely didn't want her to. That'd be, in Nara's words, too troublesome. But… why? Perhaps she… _No_, he narrowed his dark eyes, that couldn't be…

Maybe she liked Neji. Maybe she liked Neji and that was why she was going to visit his house in those girly clothes.

It was perfectly reasonable if she _did_ like Neji, though. Why would she _not_ like him? After all, he came from a family with a special blood limit, recognized as the second most powerful clan in the village after his own (like hell he'd admit his family was below his), and he was sure to ascend in status within his family due to his improvements. Sasuke respected Neji as a fellow ninja and acknowledged his strength and ability as ANBU. And Hyuuga also had a small fan club of his own so that meant he must have good-looks for female standards too.

So he was well-known, rich, good-looking, and a superb ninja. Besides, as far as Sasuke could tell from looking at a few of their encounters, he was on friendly terms with Sakura.

Right…?

--

Befriending that old nurse at the reception desk had turned out to be useful after all. So, after receiving the usual call, Sasuke had come to pick Sakura up because she'd stayed up late again. Sakura had smiled weakly at him, having almost dozed off on her desk while immersing herself in those thick medicine books that dominated her small office.

They were about to leave when one of the younger nurses had rushed to them, claiming that there was a patient who'd just arrived with a wound and was waiting for her in the first exam room. Sasuke had frowned, but nonetheless he followed Sakura to said room, her bags on his shoulder. They opened the room only to find none other but Hyuuga Neji quietly glaring at the painting of a bird on the wall.

"Neji-san!" Sakura hurried to his side and took hold of his injured arm, instantly beginning to examine the damage. "How did this happen?"

"We were ambushed on our way home," the Hyuuga explained as he moved so she had a better view of his arm, "but we took care of them."

"Rain-nins?" Sasuke wondered, passing through the door and leaning against the wall of the examination room.

"Correct," Neji affirmed as Sakura began cleaning the gash on his arm.

"How's Tenten-san and Lee-san?" Sakura asked, concern on her words as she focused on her task.

A smile fleetingly crossed the usually stoic ANBU. "Tenten went home to rest as she didn't sustain any major injuries." Then the smirk on his face was clear as he told her, "Lee is with Gai-sensei, training."

Sakura chuckled as she imagined the green-suited ninja all battered up and still somehow training. "Typical Lee-san," she admitted. Now she was dressing the wound with clean gauze after applying little chakra to stop the blood flow. "Anyhow, tell them both to stop by tomorrow for the usual check-up. You too should get a full one too, but I'll let you off with this for now. You need some rest first."

Neji nodded as he checked out the mobility of his newly bandaged arm. "Thanks, Sakura."

"You're welcome," she nodded back. "Ah, but I still owe you a cup of coffee."

"That was nothing." Neji shrugged. "Besides, you've been busy. We'll get that coffee some other time."

Sasuke, who'd been watching them deep in conversation, narrowed his eyes. Just what the hell had that last bit been about!?

--

But…

But Neji had a woman! …Didn't he? That Tenten girl that always followed him around, the weapon mistress on his team; wasn't she his girl? It had seemed so to him… Oh, Neji wouldn't try to two-time Sakura, right? He'd rip his guts if the bastard dared to even hurt his teammate. He had no right!

Sasuke sighed deeply. Maybe he was just imagining things… Maybe…

"I'm ready…"

He looked up at her, eyes questioning and reproving, as she came outside and locked the door to her apartment. "Do you like him?" he blurted. It was one of the few times that words had slipped out from the Uchiha's mouth without his permission. And he didn't care.

It would be perfectly reasonable if she liked Neji. But it still didn't mean he had to like the idea.

"What?" she asked, looking puzzled as she turned around from the door.

Sasuke was dead serious; his chipped onyx eyes were unwaveringly fixed on hers. "I said, do you like _him_, Sakura?"

"Like whom?" she looked at a complete loss. The pink-haired young woman glanced down at her wrist-watch. "Sasuke-kun, I don't know what you are trying to tell me, but Hinata-chan is waiting. Let's have this talk later, okay?"

Sasuke looked at her surprised. "Hinata?"

And then it dawned on him.

Hyuuga Hinata… Hyuuga Neji's younger cousin.

Oh…

OH.

Sasuke felt a wave of relief wash over him, though seconds later he was feeling incredibly stupid. He was being paranoid for no reason. And, _really_, for no reason at all because Sakura could like whomever she wanted to for all he cared. That was not _his_ business.

"Yes! She is planning this big, surprise party for Naruto's birthday. That's why I asked if you could come, maybe you can help us with some ideas," she explained, a happy smile on her, as Maito Gai would say, youthful face. "We could use some of your manly strength to carry things around, too," Sakura joked. With her power, manly strength was the last thing she lacked. "Come on, you already said you'd go!"

"Hn…"

Sasuke sighed. He was going to get some grey hairs, for sure. Or a have stroke… Damn it.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Let's go to the Hyuugas, then." He smirked at her and began walking, "But I'm not carrying anything around."

Sakura smiled to herself as she watched Sasuke walking slightly ahead with amused, twinkling green eyes._ 'Heh. Gotcha, Sasuke-kun.'_

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**END**


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